Apparel-corset.



No. 690,665. Patented lan. 7, |902.

C. H. SCHOPBACH. Y v

APPAREL CORSET. (Appumibn med Aug. s, 1899.". mnw Aug. 12, 1901.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES HENRY SCI-IOPBACH, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS,IASSIGNOR TO SIMON FLORSHEIM AND NORMAN S. FLORSHEIM, COPARTNERS UNDER THE FIRM-NAME OF CHICAGO CORSET COMPANY, OF AURORA,.ILLINOIS.

APPAREL-CORS ET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent o. 690,665, dated. January 7, 1.902. y

Application filed August 3, 1899. Renewed August 12, 1901. Serial No. 71,876. l (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, CHARLES HENRY SCHOP- BACH, of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corsets; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked 1o thereon, which form a part of this specification. f

This invention relates to improvements in corsets, and refers more particularly to the construction of the stays used to give stiffness to the corset and to a construction of the stay pockets intended to prevent the ends of said stays from breaking through the walls ofthe pockets.

The invention consists in the matters here- 2o inafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure lis a front per spective view of a corset made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the upper marginal part of the corset shown in Fig. l, with parts brokenV away to more clearly illustrate certain features of the invention. Fig. 3 is adetail section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a i 3o view of one of the corset-stays removed from the corset.

As shown in said drawings, A designates the fabric composing the main or body por-` tion of the corset, the same being shown in this instance as being madeof a single layer or thickness.

B B designate vertical stay-pockets, which are formed by means of stripsof clotli C, sewed at their side edges to the outer surface 4o of the body A. Within said pockets are located stiffening-stays.

A A designate the usual steels placed at' the front meeting edges of the two sides of the corset, one of which is provided with a plurality of studs a and the other of which is provided with an equal number of eyelets or loops a', adapted to engage said studs andV by which the front margins of the corset are' joined in a familiar manner.

stay-pockets, will preferably have their side margins or edges folded inwardly, as shown The strips C, forming the outer walls of the Iof metal, preferably spring-steel,and extend from the upper to thelower margin' ofI the corset in the usual manner. They are shown as provided at their upper and lower ends with the usual protecting-caps d, which prevent the sharp ends of the stays from coming in lcontact'. with the cloth forming the walls of the pockets. As a separate improvenient, said stays each consist of two'layers or strips D and D', both preferably ofl the same width. The outer strip D' is attached at its lower end to the lower end of the inner one byA a suitable attaching means, so that the strips may slide freely endwise on each other, as the` stay is bentin all parts except at their attached ends. The two strips are shown as secured together by a rivet d and also by the lowermost' i protecting-cap, which is arranged to embrace the lower ends of both strips. D will desirably be made of less length than the strip D, it being herein shown as some- The outer strip Y what greater than one-half the length of said strip D. The upper and lower ends of said pockets are provided with reinforcing means adapted to strengthen the saine and prevent the ends of the stays from breaking through the material forming the outer walls of said pockets. This construction is illustrated in detail in Figs. 2 and 3, which shows the same .applied to the upper part of the corset; but

it will be understoodthat the lower-margin of said corset may be provided with the saine construction, and the corset shown in Fig. 1 is so made. As shown in said figure, E desig-A nates a strip of cloth, which is attached to the main body of the fabric A of the corset parallel with the upper edge thereof and trans' i' versely of the stay-pocket strips C. --There are two strips E, one on each lateral side or half of vthe corset. Each of said strips E is secured to the body of the corset between the strips C and said body and will preferably be folded longitudinally upon itself to forni a double layer oi' thickness, as shown in Fig. 3.

IOO

Said reinforcing-strip is of such width that when folded and secured in place, as shown in Fig. 3, it overlaps the adjacent ends of the stays and is located between said ends of the stays and the strips forming the'outer wall of the stay-pockets. Said reinforcing-strip E will usually be primarily secured in place by basting, and the adjacent ends of the strips C after the stays have been inserted in place are lapped over said reinforcing-strips and sewed in place by the laterally-separated lines of stitches a2, said stitches passing through said transverse reinforcing-strip E in the part thereof between the strips C and the body of the corset and serving to permanently secure the same in place. It will thus be seen that the outer wall of the said pockets at the opposite ends thereof are composed of four layers of material, so that said walls are greatly strengthened and the ends of the stays are prevented from breaking therethrough.

\ `corset, if desired.

The provision of the additional layer or strip D', attached at one end to the strip D, is of much importance, as it affords a metal stay having a great degree of resiliency combined with ample strengh, it being obvious that a stay so made while possessing the same strength is at the same time more flexible than a stay which is equal in cross-section to the combined cross-sectional areas of the two layers D and D, and is therefore much more comfortable to the wearer. Moreover, such two-part construction is more durable, as stays so made are not so likely to break under extreme or continued iiexure as is a sin-V gle stay possessing the same strength. An important advantage is gained by attaching two stay-strips together at their ends, because thereby the conjoint or united action of the strips is obtained, which would not be true if said lower ends of the strips were detached and relatively movable. In the latter case, furthermore, the iiexing strain on the stay would not -be uniformly distributed as is true of the construction illustrated. Moreover, the detachment of the upper ends of the two strips constituting the stay from each other is of considerable importance, as it enables said stays to readily conform to the shape assumed by the corset, and thereby greatly increases the comfort of the garment. If both ends of said strips were attached to each other, the strip on the inner side of the curve when said stay is flexed would, owing to its longitudinal immovabilitywith respect to the other strip, act to restrict the flexure of the strip on the outside of said curve and to that extent impede the movements of the wearer. The construction described enables both of the attached ends of said strips to be covered by one protecting-cap CZ, which obviously simplifies and cheapens the construction. The length of the outer or shorter strip may be varied to suit the requirements of each particular case.

The strips E, which are contained partly within the upper and lower ends of the staypockets and are located at such places between the ends of the stays and the pocketstrips C, prevent the ends of said stays from cutting through said strips and becoming exposed. The construction wherein the reinforcing parts contained within said stay-pockets form part of a strip which passes around the corset is a desirable one, for the reason that it greatly simplifies the construction and also strengthens the part of the corset to whichit is applied. If such reinforcing part-s, forming part of the stay-pockets, were made separately from each other, it would obviously require the expenditure of a greater amount of labor and time to form said parts and insert them in place than where said parts are a part of a continuous strip which maybe aitached at one operation.

I claim as my invention-z A corset comprising a body-layer, a plurality of superposed strips attached to the bodylayer and forming stay-pockets, stays in said pockets, and a reinforcing-strip of substantially uniform width attached to the marginal part of each side of said body-layer beneath the strips which form the stay-pockets and extending continuously from the front to the rear margins thereof, the outer margin of the strip extendingin all its parts beyond the extremities of the stays, and the strip being parallel with the margin of the body-layer, the parts of said reinforcing-strip beneath said pocket-strips being located between the ends of the stays therein and said pocket-strips.

I n testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 6th day of June, A. D. 1899.

CHARLES HENRY SCIIOPBACII.

Vitnesses:

W. H. PEAsn, JNO. C. WEILAND. 

